Pork Chops with Smothered Parmesan Green Beans

Last week, I took a couple pork chops out of the freezer, but I really didn’t know what to do with them. It’s very rare that this happens – I usually have a weekly menu planned, but I have been trying to use up more of what we have in the freezer and pantry which has led to quite a bit of last minute dinner planning. Since I bookmark yummy-looking recipes using delicious as I go through my Google Reader, I decided to hit up my “pork” label to see what sounded good. There were several top contenders, but ultimately this recipe from Gourmet that Amanda at Fake Ginger posted a while back stood out from the pack.

I have been trying to cut back my carb intake – not in a low-carb diet type way, just trying to focus more on vegetables. During menu planning, my meals are typically set up with a protein, a starchy side like pasta or rice, and a vegetable. Since Ryan hasn’t always been big on veggies, I tend to stick with steamable bags from the freezer aisle to keep things easy for myself. I like these just fine, but they get boring. I realized that I was just getting tired of them, thus not making them regularly. Now that spring is here and fresh vegetables are plentiful, I want to make a conscious effort to eat more veggies than carbs. I think if I put a little more effort into them, I will enjoy them more and might even be able to get Ryan to like them as well! So, I’m not planning to nix pasta or rice completely, but I do want to find ways to shake things up a bit because even carbs can get boring when you’re eating the same couple variations regularly.

I modified the recipe a bit to fit what I already had on-hand and to lighten it slightly, but it came together really well. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pork chop itself – I think it needed a little more flavor on its own (Annie’s barbecue sauce to the rescue!) though it was good with a big bite of green beans. Already one of my preferred vegetables, this has definitely become my favorite way to eat green beans. Ryan wasn’t as thrilled with the beans; he said he could taste the onion too much which wouldn’t have been an issue had I used a shallot as directed in the recipe. Maybe I’ll try to pick up a shallot for next time, or maybe I’ll make them the same way and eat them all myself :)

Clean skillet, then heat remanining 2 teaspoons oil in skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Pat pork dry and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, then cook, turning once, until lightly browned and just cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer pork to a plate.

Pour off any remaining oil in skillet. Return skillet to medium-high heat and add remaining tablespoon water, stirring and scraping up brown bits. Stir in bean mixture and meat juices from plate and heat over medium heat. Stir in parmesan.